A wok & a dream. Thai styled Pomfret with Sriracha Sauce & Raw Mango meets 'Chinese' Egg Hakka noodles

It’s my friend, and fellow Mumbai based food blogger, Sassy Fork’s birthday today. She believes in the power of fish so this one is for her. Happy Birthday to the Fork from the Knife

I bought some pomfret from Poonam the last time I went to Khar Market. Ironically pomfret, despite being a sea water fish, is more expensive than fresh water fish such as rohu in the coastal city of Mumbai. We rarely buy pomfret. Having done so this time I wanted to make it count.

The plan was to do a simple stir fry in a ready made sauce. The legendary Thai sauce. Sriracha. A fierce chilli sauce apparently. I picked up a bottle at the Asian Store at Sydney’s Town Hall Station.

What followed eventually went well beyond just the sauce though. It was still simple. But looked exotic. A mix of Thai ingredients. Authentic? Not really given I cooked up the recipe along the way. And I don’t have any Thai blood. Should you follow the recipe to the T? Well you wouldn’t be doing me justice if you don’t throw in a bit of your own touch. What follows is more of a thought starter than a recipe if you ask me

Thai styled pomfret in Sriracha Sauce:

Ingredients for: 2 Pomfrets or any sea fish, 4 tablespoons Sriracha sauce, 2 tablespoon Fish sauce, 1 raw mango, finely chopped into cubes, slivers of ginger, 1 teaspoon honey honey, basil, kaffir and coriander leaves, bird’s eye chillies, oil

Prep:

Douse the Sriracha and fish sauce (substitute with salt if you can’t handle it) over the fish

Make a raw mango salad – put the peeled chopped mango into a bowl, add ½ a teaspoon fish sauce, 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon chopped bird’s eye chili and add some shredded basil, coriander and kaffir lime leaves to this (1 teaspoon)

Cook:

Heat 3,4 tablespoons of cooking oil in a pan
Add a few slivers of fresh ginger to this
Lightly fry 1 pomfret in this oil. If the fish is big then take one out and then fry another so that they do not break. Shallow fry so that the fish is cooked. The flesh turns white but not crisp. Turn the fish on both sides to fry evenly. Put the fish on a plate
Add the mango salad to the remaining oil and sauce on the frying pan and saute on a low flame for 30 seconds
Slowly spoon the chopped mango, herbs, chillies and sauce in the pan on to the fish.
The dish is ready

This was the first time I used raw mango while cooking. The fish was exceedingly fresh. The pairing of the sharp, bouncy raw mango with the firm yet succulent fish quite creatively satisfying. My best pomfret effort so far for whatever it’s worth.

Egg Hakka noodles – A simple Chinese touch

I made a very simple egg Hakka noodles to go with this. Steamed rice would have gone as well too. Ran out of noodles in between so used a mix of noodles and spaghetti while boiling. You couldn’t make out the difference at the end. I made the noodles while making the fish.

Here’s a quick sum up of how I made it:

Scramble a couple of eggs – drop 2 eggs into hot oil in a wok and beat with a ladle – set aside

Heat oil in a wok
Add a teaspoon each of soy sauce and Chinese chili sauce and, if you have at home, chili oil to this and stir
Add 200 g boiled noodles to the oil base and stir. (Makes sure the noodles is firm and not boiled too much. You do know you have to drain out the water right? Stop the flame the moment the noodles begin to bend a bit)
Add ajino moto (1/2 a teaspoon) and a tablespoon of salt. Stir
Add scrambled egg. Stir
Add green veggies – chopped capsicum, cabbage and spring onion. Stir for a couple of minutes. Switch of flame. You want the greens to retain their crunch

Simple. Right?

That’s what I like about Oriental stir fries.